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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24888847">21</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/treefood/pseuds/treefood'>treefood</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Castlevania (Cartoon), 悪魔城ドラキュラ | Castlevania Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Birthday, Character Study, Coping, Emotional Hurt, Family Bonding, Family Fluff, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other, anyways this hurt my heart to write sooooooo have fun :), season 3 spoilers kinda????</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 01:07:20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,734</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24888847</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/treefood/pseuds/treefood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>On Adrian’s first birthday, his parents threw a big party. Not a big party, but a party large enough for the three of them. According to his mother, his father had stayed up all night the night before. He had been decorating the whole night before; candles and decorations and baked goods and presents, all for the sake of a one year old baby. According to his mother, the three of them spent the whole day together. They opened presents and his mother would tell him she had much too much cake. Then, they settled down in Vlad’s larger than life bed, and the three of them slept. A small family, but a happy one all the same.</em>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dracula/Lisa (Castlevania)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>47</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>21</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On Adrian’s first birthday, his parents threw a big party. Not a <em>big</em> party, but a party large enough for the three of them. According to his mother, his father had stayed up all night the night before. He had been decorating the whole night before; candles and decorations and baked goods and presents, all for the sake of a one year old baby. According to his mother, the three of them spent the whole day together. They opened presents and his mother would tell him she had <em>much</em> too much cake. Then, they settled down in Vlad’s larger than life bed, and the three of them slept. A small family, but a happy one all the same.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s second birthday, they travelled out to the country. His father told him he had been hesitant, but his mother was ecstatic. She packed their bags and plenty of food, and halfway through their journey they sat under an old tree and had a picnic. Jams and breads, cheeses and wines for Vlad and his wife, cakes and pastries for Adrian. Then, they carried on with their journey. They settled in a house by a lake, where they spent a few nights, then travelled back home to the castle.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s third birthday, it rained. It poured so hard that when Lisa looked out of the window, all she saw was white. She would tell him that he cried and cried and cried, making escapes for the door when he could. But one of the two would always find him slipping away just in time to catch him. He had been so excited to travel again, only to have to stay cooped up inside. But, Lisa made the best she could of the situation. She transformed his room into a larger than life pillow fort while Vlad cooked a fine birthday dinner for the son. Adrian ate it all up and ended up falling asleep on heaps upon heaps of pillows, his mother running her fingers through his blonde hair.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s fourth birthday, his father had important business to tend to. As disappointed as he was, he understood as best as a four year old could. So, he went with his mother to her place of business. He sat and excitedly listened to her speak of all kinds of things he didn’t understand. He was young, but he was just excited to listen and be near to her. After she had tended to her last patient, they went to the market so Adrian could buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats for his father to cook with that night.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s fifth birthday, his father was travelling. It was his second birthday without his father and he was sad, but Lisa made it as happy as she could. A letter came in from his father, writing about how much he missed the both of them. He promised Adrian he had lots of treats and treasures to bring home to him. Foreign sweets and candies and lots of toys for him, he was so excited to see his precious boy and his darling wife again. A separate letter was sent to Lisa, one that Adrian wasn’t allowed to read. He returned a week after Adrian’s birthday, with bags of treats and toys and all other sorts of things. They sat by the fire while Adrian told him all about his week and his birthday and all of the wonderful things mother did. </p>
<p>On Adrian’s sixth birthday, he was awake before his parents. Tired from the trip to the lake, they tried to convince him to sleep in. But forty minutes later, the three of them were in the lake. It was freezing, but refreshing. Around midday, Lisa went back into the small house and made lunch, then they sat by the lake and had lunch while Adrian told them all about his favorite things. </p>
<p>On Adrian’s seventh birthday, they had started burning the so-called witches. When going out, Lisa and Adrian wore hoods and covered their faces. Vlad had stopped travelling in favor of watching over his clan, his wife and only child. Adrian wanted badly to go to the lake again and didn’t understand why they couldn’t go, no matter how many times his parents tried to explain. While he and Lisa went to buy supplies for dinner, Vlad stayed home and sewed toy after toy to try and make up for the lack of a lake trip. He was surprised when he came home to see all of the new stuffed animals and toys, he was grateful.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s eighth birthday, there were tensions in the home. There had been fighting in the home the night before, but they were trying to be alright for the sake of their son and his birthday. Priests had been popping up everywhere all over town and Adrian hadn’t left his home in months. His mother and father didn’t fight often, if ever in his life up to that point, but they argued often before his birthday about their safety. Vlad didn’t want either of them, especially Lisa, going out. But, Lisa insisted Adrian needed the sun to keep him in good health. He needed the socialization, the fresh air, all of it and she needed her office, her workspace. </p>
<p>On Adrian’s ninth birthday, he hadn’t left the castle in over a year. His mother and father argued, the tensions were high. Lisa missed her work, missed helping others, but Vlad was insistent on keeping his small family safe. Adrian didn’t understand, but he had a vague idea of why things were dangerous. There was often screaming heard from the town, witches were burned almost nightly, and the church ran rampant through the town. They had dinner that night, and that was all for Adrian’s ninth birthday.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s tenth birthday, things were much more simple. Things almost felt normal. He went with his mother to work often, but if religious figures came by he had to hide. They went to the market, but they still had to wear hoods and hide their faces. Vlad insisted he could go to the market for them, but Lisa and Adrian would go anyways. It was what kept her sane, she would say to him. She had explored the castle for much too long.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s eleventh birthday, he spent his whole day in the library. He was cooped up with books while his parents begged him to do something other than read on his birthday. All he did was read. To a degree, they were both happy he was, but he had to take a break at some point. He wasn’t quite sure what he was reading in search for. An answer? A solution? Well, those two things were practically the same. Can humans and vampires live together happily? Why does the church hate science? Why is there hate in the world? When will things return to normal? Not something a regular eleven year old boy should be thinking, but he wasn’t exactly a regular eleven year old boy. Not when your father was the King of Vampires and your mother was a doctor in the fourteenth century.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s twelfth birthday, he spoke less. He spoke to his father and to his mother, but when vendors at the market complimented the color of his hair or his nice manners, Adrian didn’t speak. Not when he had fangs developing and quickly growing. Not when he lost the warmth of his body, now cold even in his own bed. Not when his mother had to file down his claws that rapidly grew and he couldn’t control. Not when his blue eyes started to painfully change their pigment and turned into a muted gold color that glowed in the sun. Not when his strength had become too much to handle, not when he sprouted furry ears and a tail at the dinner table, not when his skin started to pale, and his bed became uncomfortable. Lisa urged him to speak to his father about these rapid changes, but Adrian didn’t want to speak to him. He wanted to stay locked up in his library, reading books upon books, searching for answers, searching for <em>anything</em>. When he walked through the halls, he could hear his parents worriedly whispering about him. They would stop when he neared and smile, Vlad would ask him how he was feeling and Lisa would ask him if he needed anything. Adrian loved his parents. He loved his kind hearted mother and his cold, but caring father more than words could describe, but he couldn’t think of words to say to either of them. His mind was bouncing around with thoughts and questions, all of which he knew his parents had no answer for. He couldn’t figure out how to speak without all of those questions toppling out and overwhelming all three of them. So, he kept quiet. He smiled and made small conversation, his mother told him that his father had made a cake, Adrian went to his room with quiet thanks, and they didn’t speak until dinner.</p>
<p>Adrian’s thirteenth birthday was the first time he had heard the name <em>Alucard</em>. It was by a taller woman, much taller than him. Her hair was long and snowy white, almost like she was old. But she didn’t look old. No, to Adrian she looked quite young. Around his mother’s age, perhaps younger. But, the large fangs in her mouth indicated otherwise. His father had thrown a formal celebration, vampiric nobility came from near and far to celebrate the son of the King of Vampires. Adrian has been ushered around by his father, from one noble to the next. If it weren’t for his father’s cold demeanor, Adrian would think he was showing him off with pride. That made him happy, that his father was proud of him. They had just finished talking to the ruler Raman when they finally caught up to Lisa, talking to the woman with the snow white hair.</p>
<p>“Lisa!” His father had called over the chatter. She looked up, waved them over, and Vlad followed. “Ah, Carmilla,” he bowed his head, Adrian following suit. “Good to see you in good health.”</p>
<p>“You as well, My Lord.” It was strange to hear his father referred to as such.</p>
<p>“Have you met my son, Adrian?”</p>
<p>“I’m afraid I have not. The one people call Alucard, I presume?” A catlike grin cracks across her face and Lisa was quick to snatch her son up.</p>
<p>“<em>You</em>,” she hissed. It was rare for Adrian to see his mother snap like that. “Will <em>not</em> call him that. Do you understand me?”</p>
<p>The white haired woman straightened her posture, moving her gaze from Vlad to Lisa. Her body followed her gaze, stepping dangerously close to Lisa. Vlad stepped between them, his eyes flooding deep red, before Carmilla chuckled and stepped away.</p>
<p>“Quite the <em>feisty</em> wife you have here, My Lord.” She said. “I’m afraid she forgets she’s not in the presence of her peers, but something much more dangerous.”</p>
<p>“Is that a threat, Carmilla?” He snarled.</p>
<p>“Heavens no, My Lord.” She all but gasped. “Just a statement, an observation. I mean no disrespect to My Lord and his wife.” She paused, glancing at Adrian who Lisa had tucked behind her. “And his son. I’ve just heard the talk of this fabled… Child.” </p>
<p>She said the word <em>child</em> the way a chef would say <em>rat infestation</em>.</p>
<p>“You will not refer to our son in such a manner, am I clear?” Lisa spoke again. All of this went over Adrian’s head.</p>
<p>“Carmilla, I suggest you treat my son with the same respect as you treat myself.”</p>
<p><em>A… L… U… C… A… R… D…. Alucard. D… R… A… C… U… L… A.</em> Adrian was smart enough to know that was just his father’s name backwards. He wasn’t stupid. But it stuck with him, it left a bad taste in his mouth. Seeing his mother’s reaction, it… Unsettled him. His mother seldom came unhinged like that. What was so bad about this name? This word? It seemed like a silly codename to him. </p>
<p>“Lisa, if you wouldn’t mind? I must have a word with Carmilla.” Vlad said lowly. </p>
<p>Adrian watched his mother press a small kiss to her husband’s cheek, then she whispered something. Something Adrian could not hear and she would not be repeating. He could tell by the anger on her face, she would not be repeating it again. She took Adrian by the hand and led him up the stairs, past the throne room, and into Vlad’s study. It was the closest place she could find, he supposed. She locked the door and pulled him close to her, hugging him tightly to her chest. He was quiet, hesitantly hugging her back. </p>
<p>“Do not let <em>anyone</em> reduce you to that, do you hear me, Adrian?”</p>
<p>“Yes, mother.” He said quietly.</p>
<p>“You are so, <em>so</em> much more than that. You are so much more than his son, do not let anyone tell you otherwise.”</p>
<p>“Yes, mother.” He repeated.</p>
<p>It was when Adrian turned fourteen that he realized he was not accepted in the vampire world or the human world. People of the town turned him away. Not physically, they didn’t realize who he was. But he heard the murmurs, the rumors, the whispers about Alucard. Dracula’s son, just as bad as him. Dracula’s son, the rebel vampire. Dracula’s son, The Alucard. Dracula’s son, heard of but never seen. But, he wasn’t exactly accepted into the world of vampires. Dracula’s <em>bastard</em> son. Dracula’s human son. Dracula’s <em>halfling</em> son. Dracula’s son, Alucard. That’s all he was to both worlds. Universally disliked, even hated, universally misunderstood. It all came pouring out after dinner the night of his birthday, all but weeping in front of his parents. He would never have friends, never have family, never have anything, all because he was Dracula’s <em>bastard</em> son.</p>
<p>Lisa and Vlad had shared a look over their crying son, face in his hands, and for a moment neither of them knew what to do. It was the divorced-parent-syndrome they would never experience. It was worse than that. It went far past something like divorced-parent-syndrome. Both of his worlds were divorced. Never to be accepted by the humans, never to be accepted by the vampires.</p>
<p>“Son,” Vlad said gently, going to put a hand on his shoulder. Adrian yanked away.</p>
<p>“You don’t understand!” He cried. Lisa told him he had always been a crier, ever since he was young. He was a happy baby, but cried over the silliest things. Cried when bath time was over, cried when he had to wake up, cried over his father’s politics, cried over the sun being too bright. Lisa just told him he was sensitive, it was nothing to be ashamed of. But when you’re the son of the ever cold and distant King of the Vampires, it was. It was something to be very ashamed of. “You two are all I have! You’re all I’m ever going to have! I won’t have friends, I won’t have family, I won’t have anything! You both have lots of friends and know lots of people that <em>love</em> you… Everyone in the world hates me and they don’t even <em>know</em> me!”</p>
<p>“Adrian…” Lisa said, leaning over to pull him into her arms. “Adrian, darling, that’s not true.”</p>
<p>“Don’t lie to me! Don’t lie to me just because you’re my parents!”</p>
<p>“Adrian.” Vlad said firmly. Lisa gave him a look and he backed down. “Son, you’re still a child. You have a whole world ahead of you. You don’t need to worry about such trivial things.”</p>
<p>“Besides, most of your father’s <em>acquaintances</em> are mostly from work. Generals and lords and ladies.”</p>
<p>“Dukes and duchesses and emperors and empresses.” He said, rubbing his back. “The list goes on. I don’t think any of them consider me their <em>friends</em>.”</p>
<p>“Right,” Lisa soothed, kissing his head. “And all of my friends are just patients, darling, people that are coming to get cured.”</p>
<p>“That’s not true.” Adrian sniffled, wiping his golden eyes. “You’re loved. Everywhere you go you’re loved, mother.”</p>
<p>Vlad and Lisa share a quick, panicked look. They both know it’s very close eo true, but they can’t say that. </p>
<p>“That’s not true, either, darling. The church doesn’t like me.” She said it without thinking, but it came out all the same. Anything to make her son feel better.</p>
<p>“<em>Lisa!</em>” Vlad snapped, his voice hushed.</p>
<p>“The…” Adrian lifted his head, rubbing at his tearfilled eyes. “The church?”</p>
<p>When Adrian turned fifteen, he was escorting his mother to work. His father had gone travelling, as she urged him to do, so Adrian was in charge of looking after his mother. It was a chore Adrian didn’t mind doing. He cared for his mother, he wanted her safe. He and his father could take care of themselves, but if the church came knocking on her office door, he wanted to be there. He wanted to make sure he could protect her. At fifteen, Adrian was more ready to die for his mother than most were. He had grown quite tall, his eyes had turned to a bright gold, and his hair stopped at his shoulders. Patients would compliment him and tell him he was handsome, some even beautiful. Lisa would smile and thank them. She knew. She had everything she wanted. A husband and son who were both beautiful and in good health and a place of her own where she could help people.</p>
<p>On Adrian’s sixteenth birthday, the church had started to burn witches again. His father was still travelling. They wrote letters as much as they could, but Lisa begged Adrian not to breathe a word of the burnings to his father. She didn’t want him to worry. She didn’t want him to come home from an expedition he had been doing so well on. He was learning to be accepting. He was learning to live among humans and he was learning to pass as one. It was something he had needed to do for a long, <em>long</em> time, but wanted to wait until Adrian was much older. He wanted to tell his father, the fear of the church seizing his mother being almost unbearable. But, he was a mother’s boy at heart. She promised him she would be fine. She promised <em>both</em> of them she would be fine. And he believed her.</p>
<p>Vlad returned home for Adrian’s seventeenth birthday. He had let it slip to his father that the church had gotten worse and he was worried, even scared, for his mother. He came home under the pretenses that a war had broken out on the route he was travelling, it was much easier to come home for a spell. Adrian wasn’t sure if his mother believed that, but he knew she was happy to have him home. He was happy to have him home as well. He had grown just as tall as him, but was a mirror image of his mother. Save for the fangs and the glowing eyes. That night, Vlad made dinner and they all sat by the fire, telling stories about their day to day life. Both at home and afar. The beautiful art and history of different towns, cities, and villages from Vlad. The bustle of the market and the unusual business of her office from Lisa. Adrian didn’t have much to offer, just a few nuggets of information he had read about that his parents probably already knew, but he was happy just listening. He was happy just being with them.</p>
<p>When Adrian turned eighteen things were almost normal. The screams of witches and the stench of flesh were nightly occurrences, but things were well. His family was happy, they were happy to be together. Things felt the way they did when he was still a child. Warm and soft, happy and bright, comfortable and relaxed. Things were well. He could live in this feeling forever.</p>
<p>The night after Adrian’s nineteenth birthday, Lisa sent his father on another expedition. She insisted it would be good for him and she insisted she would be safe. She had Adrian and the church had a lot on his hands with The Bishop’s illness. There was no need to worry, all would be well. So, like a fool, he believed her. Like a fool, he left. And, like a fool, Adrian let him leave. He was an adult, he could take care of his mother. He had before, nothing bad had ever happened. They would be alright. It was only for a year, Vlad promised, maybe even less. Perhaps there would be another war that blocked his route and he would decide to come home early. Things would be well, they would all be in touch, and if Adrian needed to tell him to come home, he would. But he was a grown man, for goodness sake. He could take care of his own mother. There was no way he couldn’t.</p>
<p>When Alucard turned twenty, he and his father wept. Salty and bloody tears, they wept. How could they have let this happen, how could they have been so foolish? Alucard and Dracula had both been too late. Alucard knew he wouldn’t have been strong enough to save her. He was only half vampire. He couldn’t do what his father would have done. He couldn’t do what his father was planning to do.</p>
<p>Alucard was twenty one when both of his parents were dead, his two friends left him alone in the castle, and he was betrayed in the most vulnerable way imaginable. Covered in blood, laying on the floor of his childhood room, he wept. He called out for his mother, his father, Trevor, and Sypha. He called out for anyone, anyone who would come, anyone who would listen. But nobody did. His parents were dead, his friends had more important matters to tend to, and Alucard was alone. Just as he had always been, just as always would be. In just over a year, he had lost everything. He had gained a few things, but lost them as well. All he had was this castle. This <em>goddamn</em> castle. He missed his mother, his father. He missed the warm birthday celebrations. He missed his childhood.</p>
<p>And Alucard ached.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>anyways, heres some more castlevania stuff bc why not???<br/>yall please leave me some comments to read if you liked this!!! i love reading through them its super inspiring UwU</p></blockquote></div></div>
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